


i'd steady with you next to me

by ahermioneh



Series: Nursey Week 2021 [2]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Nursey Week 2021, Nursey Week: Day 2 - Music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:42:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29353644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahermioneh/pseuds/ahermioneh
Summary: One of Derek's favourite times of the week is Frog Cuddle Time.
Relationships: Chris "Chowder" Chow & Derek "Nursey" Nurse & William "Dex" Poindexter
Series: Nursey Week 2021 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2154669
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	i'd steady with you next to me

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for [Nursey Week 2021](https://nurseyweek2021.tumblr.com/): Day 2 - Music. 
> 
> Although the fic isn't as centred around music as I wanted it to be, the title and the concept (loosely) are both from Half-Asleep from Amelie.

_I want to tell you I’ve watched the moon_

_That trips the tide_

_The shadows that trip up the tree_

_Now I’m wearing a blindfold_

_My shoelace untied_

_But I’d steady with you next to me_

As the music flows from the little bluetooth speaker next to them, Derek plants his hands in the sand, allowing the grains to flow out over his fingers and bury them, as he leans back into the moonlight until his head rests equally on Dex and Chowder’s shoulders, his body fitting naturally between them. He sighs contentedly; one of his favourite times of the week is Frog Cuddle Time. He can just sit back and sink into his friends, basking in the warmth of platonic physical affection. He missed this _so much_ at Andover, when he could barely ask a friend for a casual and quick hug, let alone a full on cuddle, without being accused of being gay or having some other slur tossed carelessly at him. He sinks his fists deeper into the sand, steadying his breathing and focusing on the rhythm of his best friends’ chests rising and falling beneath him, letting the pattern wash over him and bring him back to the moment. He tosses his head back further into his friends’ shoulders, exposing the column of his neck to the moonlight. 

Chowder’s fingers tap gently against his spine. “Nursey?” he asks, fingers trembling carefully against Derek’s back. “Hey? What’s going on in there?”

Derek shakes his head to clear his vision and answer Chowder’s question. “Nothing.” He senses more than sees Dex raise his eyebrow. Derek shifts a bit in his spot between them. “‘Was thinkin’ about how much you guys mean to me,” he says, “‘n’ how grateful I am that I met you at Samwell.” He turns slowly to face them, their faces dappled in moonlight and shadows from the trees that covered the edge of the beach. “I love you guys, you know that right?”

There’s a moment of silence, filled only by the gentle sound of the waves lapping against the shore and the soft lofi music spilling from the speaker next to them, and Derek, for one terrifying moment, wonders if somehow, this time, he’s screwed it all up. 

Thankfully that train of thought is cut off by the feeling of Dex’s arms engulfing both him and Chowder in a hug. Derek has no concept of whose limb is whose as the three of them tangle together into one pile of bodies, but he knows for certain that it’s Dex that muffledly mutters “Of course we know, you idiot” into his shoulder, affection colouring the insult, and that it’s Chowder who mumbles, in the centre of all the chaos, “We love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Check out all the works for Nursey Week 2021 [here](https://nurseyweek2021.tumblr.com)


End file.
